The United States has acknowledged China's achievements in implementing its commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to the latest report published by the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

"China has taken important steps in implementing the numerous commitments that it undertook upon its WTO accession on December 11, 2001," the report said.

The report is the fourth annual one that the USTR has published to report to US Congress on China's practices to meet its commitments to the WTO.

It covers nine broad categories of WTO commitments undertaken by China.

It said China has eliminated some trade barriers and has started to even out unequal treatment. Additionally, it has further opened the service market and strengthened the liberalization of bilateral and multilateral trade since it entered the WTO.

With regard to the IPR (intellectual property right) issue, which remains the top concern of the US Government, the report said that China has made significant efforts to implement its commitments to establish a legal framework to ensure the protection of IPR in accordance with the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

"China has done a relatively good job of overhauling the legal regime," the report commented.

However, the USTR stressed that China should further strengthen the enforcement of its laws and regulations.

The report added that the Sino-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting held in July this year achieved some progress on a range of trade-related issues.

(China Daily December 15, 2005)